Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

UCSD cash speaks with loud Voice

$20,000 deal with nonprofit news site guarantees good coverage

UCSD, which has traditionally enjoyed red-carpet treatment from local media, has encountered a bit of turbulence of late.

Word that the school has been the target of its own auditors' public safety critique, first noted here, was picked up by U-T San Diego.

The paper next ran a story about a lawsuit by Marc Olsson, a Kearny Mesa business owner, charging that the university is illegally withholding documents regarding private work done by its state-subsidized machine shops.

“The UC is basically in the manufacturing business and is competing with small machine shops in San Diego,” Olsson was quoted by the paper as saying. “This is a moneymaking exercise for them.”

On the other hand, plenty of good news for UCSD can be found over at the Voice of San Diego, the nonprofit news-and-opinion website chaired by La Jolla investor and onetime venture capitalist Ralph B. Woolley.

A longtime UCSD insider, Woolley was cofounder of its Connect technology transfer and local business-boosting initiative.

Sponsored
Sponsored

"The program began when R.B. 'Buzz' Woolley Jr. of Girard Capital, Robert Weaver of Deloitte Haskins and Sells, and Daniel Pegg of San Diego Economic Development, along with Mary Wolshock, [sic] vice chancellor of UCSD, contacted about 40 firms with the idea,” the Union-Tribune reported in 1989.

“More than 30 responded, Wolshok reports, with $75,000 in seed financing."

Woolley — once the husband of UCSD then-counsel Ann Parode, who after her divorce from the financier married the university's ex-chancellor Robert Dynes — later recruited Walshok to join the board of his Girard Foundation, where she is secretary and receives $5000 a year, according to the foundation's latest federal disclosure, filed this May.

The Girard Foundation contributed $32,000 to the Voice in 2013, according to the filing.

Connect was subsequently spun off into a private nonprofit, but Woolley and Walshok — associate vice chancellor for public programs and dean of extension at the university — remain on the board of its subsidiary, the Connect Foundation, according to the nonprofit's website.

Last year the parent group lobbied heavily at city hall against the so-called linkage fee for subsidized low-income housing, arguing that it would cause businesses to flee the city.

This week the Voice launched a series bemoaning the departure of high-tech and other outfits from San Diego to Texas and elsewhere — moves which, according to the Voice, "amplify the growing sense that the city and state aren’t friendly to business."

Walshok and UCSD Extension enjoy prominence on the Voice’s site through their appearance in a feature called "Partner Voices." Says the site: "These messages are paid for by the nonprofits themselves, or by local businesses or philanthropists who support their efforts. They are not products of Voice of San Diego's editorial staff."

UCSD’s section has featured a large portrait of Walshok headlined, "Why Mary Walshok Keeps Pushing to Make San Diego Smarter." An accompanying write-up adds that the UCSD dean has spent the past four decades "converting UC San Diego Extension into a cherished part of San Diego’s education scene."

How much has UCSD Extension paid to the Voice for the running praise of its administrator?

A June 11, 2014, letter from Voice vice president of advancement and engagement Mary Walter-Brown to UCSD was released after a public records act request made to the university this spring.

It says, “The Voice of San Diego office received $10,000 from UC San Diego Extension on December 17, 2013.”

An additional $10,000 was provided to the Voice in so-called in-kind services, according to another document released by the university.

Material run in Partner Voices, the document says, “will include a medley of stories provided by UC San Diego Extension. Content and photos may be updated twice a month."

Additionally, the invoice promised, "Current CEO, Scott Lewis or other VOSD staffer will speak to any UCSD class or group on the future of media."

On December 2, 2013, as the deal was being finalized, the Voice’s Walter-Brown emailed Walshok and Devries. "I just wanted to make sure that you saw our Q & A with [UCSD chancellor] Pradeep Khosla. We just posted it today."

On March 21 of this year, extension director of communications John Freeman emailed staff regarding the project.

"I met yesterday with Emily Tillson of Voice of San Diego, who introduced us to Sofie [Casillas]. She’s been hired by VoSD to write blog posts about Extension and what’s going on in your Areas of Study...people, courses, events, trends, etc....

"Sofie, who’s a recent SDSU Communications graduate, will write exclusively for VoSD’s new ‘Partner Voices’ section, which now includes Extension and SDG&E.”

“To that end, Sofie will conduct a sit-down interview here with Dean Walshok on Friday, April 4 (after Mary [Walshok] returns from Europe)….”

Walshok did not respond to a previous request regarding the documents furnished by the university.

Reached by phone today, a spokesman said Walshok was currently on vacation and not available for comment, but confirmed the terms of the agreement as provided by the documents. We've left a call for Woolley at the Girard Foundation seeking further details.

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

San Diego Holiday Experiences

As soon as Halloween is over, it's Christmas time in my mind
Next Article

Issa aide collaborates with Ukrainians

Carlsbad's Tracy Slepcevic, Warrior Mom, and her ties to RFK, Jr.

UCSD, which has traditionally enjoyed red-carpet treatment from local media, has encountered a bit of turbulence of late.

Word that the school has been the target of its own auditors' public safety critique, first noted here, was picked up by U-T San Diego.

The paper next ran a story about a lawsuit by Marc Olsson, a Kearny Mesa business owner, charging that the university is illegally withholding documents regarding private work done by its state-subsidized machine shops.

“The UC is basically in the manufacturing business and is competing with small machine shops in San Diego,” Olsson was quoted by the paper as saying. “This is a moneymaking exercise for them.”

On the other hand, plenty of good news for UCSD can be found over at the Voice of San Diego, the nonprofit news-and-opinion website chaired by La Jolla investor and onetime venture capitalist Ralph B. Woolley.

A longtime UCSD insider, Woolley was cofounder of its Connect technology transfer and local business-boosting initiative.

Sponsored
Sponsored

"The program began when R.B. 'Buzz' Woolley Jr. of Girard Capital, Robert Weaver of Deloitte Haskins and Sells, and Daniel Pegg of San Diego Economic Development, along with Mary Wolshock, [sic] vice chancellor of UCSD, contacted about 40 firms with the idea,” the Union-Tribune reported in 1989.

“More than 30 responded, Wolshok reports, with $75,000 in seed financing."

Woolley — once the husband of UCSD then-counsel Ann Parode, who after her divorce from the financier married the university's ex-chancellor Robert Dynes — later recruited Walshok to join the board of his Girard Foundation, where she is secretary and receives $5000 a year, according to the foundation's latest federal disclosure, filed this May.

The Girard Foundation contributed $32,000 to the Voice in 2013, according to the filing.

Connect was subsequently spun off into a private nonprofit, but Woolley and Walshok — associate vice chancellor for public programs and dean of extension at the university — remain on the board of its subsidiary, the Connect Foundation, according to the nonprofit's website.

Last year the parent group lobbied heavily at city hall against the so-called linkage fee for subsidized low-income housing, arguing that it would cause businesses to flee the city.

This week the Voice launched a series bemoaning the departure of high-tech and other outfits from San Diego to Texas and elsewhere — moves which, according to the Voice, "amplify the growing sense that the city and state aren’t friendly to business."

Walshok and UCSD Extension enjoy prominence on the Voice’s site through their appearance in a feature called "Partner Voices." Says the site: "These messages are paid for by the nonprofits themselves, or by local businesses or philanthropists who support their efforts. They are not products of Voice of San Diego's editorial staff."

UCSD’s section has featured a large portrait of Walshok headlined, "Why Mary Walshok Keeps Pushing to Make San Diego Smarter." An accompanying write-up adds that the UCSD dean has spent the past four decades "converting UC San Diego Extension into a cherished part of San Diego’s education scene."

How much has UCSD Extension paid to the Voice for the running praise of its administrator?

A June 11, 2014, letter from Voice vice president of advancement and engagement Mary Walter-Brown to UCSD was released after a public records act request made to the university this spring.

It says, “The Voice of San Diego office received $10,000 from UC San Diego Extension on December 17, 2013.”

An additional $10,000 was provided to the Voice in so-called in-kind services, according to another document released by the university.

Material run in Partner Voices, the document says, “will include a medley of stories provided by UC San Diego Extension. Content and photos may be updated twice a month."

Additionally, the invoice promised, "Current CEO, Scott Lewis or other VOSD staffer will speak to any UCSD class or group on the future of media."

On December 2, 2013, as the deal was being finalized, the Voice’s Walter-Brown emailed Walshok and Devries. "I just wanted to make sure that you saw our Q & A with [UCSD chancellor] Pradeep Khosla. We just posted it today."

On March 21 of this year, extension director of communications John Freeman emailed staff regarding the project.

"I met yesterday with Emily Tillson of Voice of San Diego, who introduced us to Sofie [Casillas]. She’s been hired by VoSD to write blog posts about Extension and what’s going on in your Areas of Study...people, courses, events, trends, etc....

"Sofie, who’s a recent SDSU Communications graduate, will write exclusively for VoSD’s new ‘Partner Voices’ section, which now includes Extension and SDG&E.”

“To that end, Sofie will conduct a sit-down interview here with Dean Walshok on Friday, April 4 (after Mary [Walshok] returns from Europe)….”

Walshok did not respond to a previous request regarding the documents furnished by the university.

Reached by phone today, a spokesman said Walshok was currently on vacation and not available for comment, but confirmed the terms of the agreement as provided by the documents. We've left a call for Woolley at the Girard Foundation seeking further details.

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Tuna within 3-day range Back in the Counts

Mind the rockfish regulations
Next Article

Live Five: Songwriter Sanctuary, B-Side Players, The Crawdaddys, Saint Luna, Brawley

Reunited, in the round, and onstage in Normal Heights, East Village, Little Italy, Encinitas
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader